[BobVVue]

Have a 2011 Lux with the crummy factory Halogen low bulbs. Bought used, never test drove at night, so didn't know how poor the lights were until too late. Assumed ALL Caddies would have good lights, as they are a premium brand. Shouldn't assume....

In Dec, I spent $125 and put a half-way decent HID low upgrade kit in it. The bulbs WERE LOTS brighter and solved the low light issues, but....

1. They were suppose to be 4300K, which is WHITE and not blue. They were 6000K, too blue for me, especially when you flip the high back on and they are 3200K halogen and make the lows look BLUE.

2. One bulb quit after 2 months.

3. They cause a VERY slight FM radio interferance. We live in the middle of no-where and our favorite station is weak. HIDs on, equaled less radio reception.

So Wife wanted "the poor candle-in-the-wind" lights she had before (original lows.)

Researched and there ARE options in the halogen world that are better than OEM, but not up to HID level. For us, good enough for now:

1. Stock H11LL lows are for long life-not bright light. They are 1350 Lux, where HIDs are 3200. So of course HIDs blew them away.
1a. But the standard Halogen H9 bulb fits with slight modification and is 2100 Lux. Not HID bright, but almost 2x the stockers.
1b. H9 are under $10 at Amazon. Quick modification with Dremel and - BAMB, not HIDs, but atleast as bright NORMAL CAR lows seem.
1c. Color matches highs, no radio interferance, but life is not as good as H11LL. Should last more than 2 months though!


2. The 9005 Highs are not bad, but a HIR1 bulb can be modified to fit. 9005 are about 1700Lux, HIR is 2300. Bulb is harder to get and I paid $30 each. There is a slight modification to make fit. Worth it? I don't know as the stocks higher were already pretty good, but the highs are still very good.

So, Still had to drop bumper and fill the 1" hole I drilled in light assembly for the HID conversion. But now I have "normal level" of low lighting, without the down side of the Chinesse aftermarker HIDs.

Wife is happier now.

I still wish Caddy would have put HIDs on a $40k without having to go to the "Performance" level, especially as lower end cars like Prius have HIDs now... But that is just me.

 

[johnnydee]

Thanks for your post!
I'm in a similar situation and have purchased the Chinese HID kit just waiting for the weather to improve for this outside job!

 

[BobVVue]

Having drove it in light sucking rain, the H9 are no where near as bright as the HIDs were. But done feel like getting an other set of HIDs and dropping bumper again.

Also, I wouldn't do the Hir highs again. Any addition High light makes the lows look worse. Plus highs were never bad to start with.

 

[ksearcy]

Have a 2011 Lux with the crummy factory Halogen low bulbs. Bought used, never test drove at night, so didn't know how poor the lights were until too late. Assumed ALL Caddies would have good lights, as they are a premium brand. Shouldn't assume.... In Dec, I spent $125 and put a half-way decent HID low upgrade kit in it. The bulbs WERE LOTS brighter and solved the low light issues, but.... 1. They were suppose to be 4300K, which is WHITE and not blue. They were 6000K, too blue for me, especially when you flip the high back on and they are 3200K halogen and make the lows look BLUE. 2. One bulb quit after 2 months. 3. They cause a VERY slight FM radio interferance. We live in the middle of no-where and our favorite station is weak. HIDs on, equaled less radio reception. So Wife wanted "the poor candle-in-the-wind" lights she had before (original lows.) Researched and there ARE options in the halogen world that are better than OEM, but not up to HID level. For us, good enough for now: 1. Stock H11LL lows are for long life-not bright light. They are 1350 Lux, where HIDs are 3200. So of course HIDs blew them away. 1a. But the standard Halogen H9 bulb fits with slight modification and is 2100 Lux. Not HID bright, but almost 2x the stockers. 1b. H9 are under $10 at Amazon. Quick modification with Dremel and - BAMB, not HIDs, but atleast as bright NORMAL CAR lows seem. 1c. Color matches highs, no radio interferance, but life is not as good as H11LL. Should last more than 2 months though! 2. The 9005 Highs are not bad, but a HIR1 bulb can be modified to fit. 9005 are about 1700Lux, HIR is 2300. Bulb is harder to get and I paid $30 each. There is a slight modification to make fit. Worth it? I don't know as the stocks higher were already pretty good, but the highs are still very good. So, Still had to drop bumper and fill the 1" hole I drilled in light assembly for the HID conversion. But now I have "normal level" of low lighting, without the down side of the Chinesse aftermarker HIDs. Wife is happier now. I still wish Caddy would have put HIDs on a $40k without having to go to the "Performance" level, especially as lower end cars like Prius have HIDs now... But that is just me.

What was the slight modification? Was it done to the car or to the bulb?

 

[dmiller78]

I need some help here. I agree the low beam bulbs on the LUX SRX ( 2012 in my case ) are way too dim. How hard is it to swap out the bulbs? I was thinking of just just putting in some bright Sylvania Silver Star bulds. Is that an option?